Temporary ligation of a tubular vessel such as a blood vessel is often required during a surgical procedure. This temporary ligation of a blood vessel is commonly performed using commercially available "bulldog" clamps and forceps. A bulldog clamp typically includes a pair of clamping jaws with a spring positioned between the proximal ends thereof. In use, the spring is compressed using forceps so that the distal ends of the clamping jaws are moved apart. Then the open jaws of the clamp are positioned over the vessel to be ligated. When the clamp is released from the forceps, the spring expands against the proximal ends of the clamping jaws for forcing the jaws together and gripping the vessel positioned therebetween.
A problem with these commercially available clamps is that they are impractical for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures such as laparoscopy, endoscopy, pelviscopy, and hysteroscopy, which utilize an access port with an inside diameter in the range of 5 to 10 mm. The bulldog clamps and forceps are simply too wide to fit through the port. As a result, the clamps cannot be introduced into a body cavity of a patient during a minimally invasive surgical procedure.
Another device for performing temporary ligation of a blood vessel is a V-shaped surgical clamp. The V-shaped clamp is positioned and compressed over a blood vessel using inserter forceps and removed therefrom using separate, remover forceps. A 0.5" (12.7 mm) long V-shaped clamp is recommended for use when temporarily ligating a femoral artery through a 4" (10.16 mm) long incision in the groin of a patient.
Again, a problem with the V-shaped clamp is that it is impractical for introduction with forceps through a minimally invasive access port. The clamp and inserter forceps together are simply too wide to fit through the access port. Another inconvenience of using the V-shaped surgical clamp is that the clamp requires separate forceps for the insertion and removal thereof.